Edinburgh welcome the return of eight Scotland internationals for tomorrow night’s EPCR Challenge Cup clash against Aviron Bayonnais at Hive Stadium (Friday 13 December, kick-off 8pm) – live on Premier Sports.
The capital club return to EH12 for their first home match of this season’s European campaign and are bolstered by a host of returning Scotland stars, including wing duo Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham.
Edinburgh started the tournament earning a gutsy bonus-point in defeat against Gloucester at Kingsholm and will look to kickstart their Challenge Cup run Bayonne coming to town.
Currently placed fifth in the French Top 14, “Les Ciel et Blanc’ are a familiar foe, having come to Edinburgh in the Round of 16 of last year’s competition, when a four-try second half helped Edinburgh progress to the quarter-final.
On the match, Head Coach Sean Everitt said: “It’s great to welcome back some of our internationals for tomorrow night’s match. Winning at home in these knockout competitions is vitally important, so having those guys back in the starting lineup is incredibly important.
“We know that Bayonne can be a dangerous team; they played some great rugby against us last season and beat Scarlets last week, so they’ll come to Hive Stadium with confidence.”
Van der Merwe – fresh from signing a new multi-year deal in the capital – returns to the back-three alongside Graham and full-back Wes Goosen, who opened his try scoring account for the season with a fine finish at Kingsholm.
The capital midfield remains unchanged for the third match in a row, with Mosese Tuipulotu and Matt Currie starting at inside and outside centre respectively.
British & Irish Lion Ali Price returns to the side at scrum-half, partnering stand-off Ross Thompson in the halves.
Scotland International front-row duo of Pierre Schoeman (loosehead) and Ewan Ashman (hooker) are back action, alongside ever-present tighthead Paul Hill.
Club co-captain Grant Gilchrist starts at lock, joining Marshall Sykes in the capital boiler house.
Magnus Bradbury retains the number eight jersey after an impressive outing at Kingsholm and is joined in the back row by Luke Crosbie (openside flanker) and the in-form Jamie Ritchie (blindside).
Edinburgh Rugby side to face Aviron Bayonnais at Hive Stadium Friday 13 December, kick-off 8pm kick-off – live on Premier Sports
15. Wes Goosen (39)
14. Darcy Graham (70)
13. Matt Currie (46)
12. Mosese Tuipulotu (7)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (98)
10. Ross Thompson (8)
9. Ali Price (23)
1. Pierre Schoeman (121)
2. Ewan Ashman (26)
3. Paul Hill (8)
4. Marshall Sykes (71)
5. Grant Gilchrist (211) CAPTAIN
6. Jamie Ritchie (120)
7. Luke Crosbie (103)
8. Magnus Bradbury (120)
Replacements
16. Dave Cherry (97)
17. Boan Venter (74)
18. Javan Sebastian (17)
19. Sam Skinner (27)
20. Tom Dodd (12)
21. Charlie Shiel (64)
22. Ben Healy (28)
23. James Lang (58)
Unavailable: Ben Vellacott (ankle), Freddy Douglas (ankle), Ben Muncaster (illness), Robin Hislop (calf), Mark Bennett (quad), Connor Boyle (knee), Harry Paterson (hamstring), Emiliano Boffelli (back).
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None Knows What Happened to Hansie Cronje: People who have been following South African sports for a long time must know that Hansie Cronje was behind match-fixing in 2000. Soon after the dark secret got revealed, he died in a plane crash in 2002. Many experts say it was a planned murder by the criminals behind the scandal. But due to lack of evidence, none can prove the actual cause of death, and it still lingers in the history of South African sports as one of the biggest mysteries.
Clover Rabbit
Brian O’Driscoll, an Irish rugby legend, scored a record 46 tries in the Six Nations Championship and held the record for the most international appearances as captain (83) until being surpassed by Richie McCaw.